Abstract
Tree size, survival, and coppicing of micropropagated plantlets, macropropagated cuttings, and seedlings of Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden were monitored through 57 months in a study in southern Florida to assess propagation options. Two plantlet lines developed by direct micropropagation and orchard open-pollinated seedlings from three ortets were compared in the main study. Rooted cuttings from up to four ramets of each of the three ortets and another ortet were examined in an adjacent supplemental study. Freezes at six and 16 months killed most initial and first-coppice stems to the ground. Most developmental differences in the main study were consistent from ages 2 to 57 months. Propagation by ortet interactions were observed beginning at 21 months, due to the poor performance of seedlings of one ortet after the second freeze. At 57 months, no differences in tree height, DBH, volume, or survival were detected between plantlet lines and between rooted cuttings and plantlets, but seedlings were inferior to plantlets and cuttings. Vegetative propagules had more uniform tree size at every age, with typically less than one-half the variability observed among seedlings. Even though plantlets and cuttings may be more expensive to produce, they have numerous advantages over seedlings for E. grandis plantation establishment in Florida.
Similar content being viewed by others
Reference
Bell, DT, PG Van der Moezel, IJ Bennett, JA McComb, CF Wilkins, and SCB Marshall. 1993. For. Ecol. & Man. 57(1–4): 125–139.
Franclet, A, and M Boulay. 1982. Aust. For. Res. 13: 83–89.
Geary, TF, GF Meskimen, and EC Franklin. (1983). USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rpt. SE-23. 43p.
Khuspe, SS, PK Gupta, DK Kulkarni, U Mehta, and AF Mascarenhas. 1987. Can. J. For. Res. 17(11): 1361–1363.
Lambeth, CC. (1994). Forest Science (in press)
Meskimen, GF, DL Rockwood, and KV Reddy. 1987. New Forests 3: 197–205.
Rockwood, DL, EE Warrag, J Bryan, and K Kratz. (1988). In: Proceedings 5th. Biennial Southern Silvicultural Research Conference, November 1–3, (1988), Memphis, TN. p. 317–326.
Rockwood, DL, EE Warrag, K Javanshir, and K Kratz. (1989). In: Proceedings 20th. Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference, June 27–29, (1989), Charleston, SC. p. 403–410.
SAS. (1988). SAS Institute, Cary, NC.
Warrag, EI, MS Lesney, and DL Rockwood. 1989a. Plant Cell Reports 8: 497–499.
Warrag, EI, MS Lesney, and DL Rockwood. 1989b. Plant Cell Reports 8: 500–503.
Warrag, EI, MS Lesney, and DL Rockwood. 1990. New Forests 4: 67–79.
Warrag, E, MS Lesney, and DL Rockwood. 1991. Plant Cell Reports 9: 586–589
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by I. K. Vasil
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rockwood, D.L., Warrag, E.I. Field performance of micropropagated, macropropagated, and seed-derived propagules of three Eucalyptus grandis ortets. Plant Cell Reports 13, 628–631 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00232934
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00232934